The moon the merest sliver of reflected light on this morning's pre-dawn drive, but that resplendent sliver illuminating the mountains and valleys of her darkened surface: oh, Lord, to be even the merest sliver reflecting Your light.

1. Choice of Topic
You will choose a topic for your thesis, under the guidance of the instructor, based on your interests and goals. The possibilities are varied – literary criticism, topics pertaining to teaching, rhetorical and composition theory, etc. Certain specific options are suggested here, but if you have an idea for a thesis topic not addressed here, discuss it with the instructor to find out if it would fit the Department’s goals for the project.

Literary Criticism: A traditional literary essay.
You may choose to explore a particular work or works by one author, or perhaps a comparison of works by two authors, how an author’s worldview is reflected in his work, etc. Your topic needs to be comprehensive enough to meet the length requirements of the thesis, but not so broad as to confine you to vague generalities.

Education: An essay pertaining to classroom teaching.
You may choose to explore ways to teach a particular author or selection(s), or you may choose to explore an issue in the teaching of English which interests you (such as censorship, bilingual education, ESL issues, dialect issues, pedagogy debates, writing centers, etc.).

Rhetoric: An essay exploring rhetorical theory, with application to a specific text(s).
This option is for those interested in the theory of text construction, and might include issues such as how a specific text does or does not follow traditional rhetorical structure, how current writing theory has changed from traditional theory, etc.

Composition: An essay exploring how texts are composed or how composition is taught.
This option would include some of the same issues as the education option, but is specifically geared to composition theory as applied to creating texts, teaching writing, tutoring, establishing and directing writing centers, etc.

2. Research
A thesis options is based on scholarly research. Your instructor can help you in narrowing and defining your topic and understanding what kinds of research will be necessary. We are not, of course, looking primarily for a report of what others have said; we are most interested in your own thinking about the topic – how you interpret and analyze the information and ideas of others which you gain through research to come up with your own contribution to the ongoing discussion about it.

3. Audience
You will consider early in the thesis process a specific audience for your essay, such as English Journal for essays on teaching subjects, or PMLA for literary essays, etc. You may also consider audiences outside the academy, such as home education journals or magazines that encourage scholarly subjects written more for laymen (Touchstone, The Christendom Review, and First Things come to mind). By considering a specific group of people as your audience, you will have a sense of what your readers might know about the topic already and what you can contribute.

4. Format
Length: 20-30 pages total

Minimum number of sources in final draft: 10

MLA style for all documentation and for manuscript presentation.

EXCEPTION: You will prepare a cover sheet for your thesis, following the format given below. Otherwise, follow MLA manuscript presentation format precisely, including the same first-page format as used for essays without a cover page, and of course in-text and Works Cited citations.

3) an analysis and discussion of the topic which will support your controlling idea;

4) a conclusion which suggests the significance of your ideas.

6. Structure
Find a structure suitable to your topic and approach. Four sections which cover the content areas listed above might work well for some topics, but others might be better served by integrating the literature review and analysis. You will have opportunities to work with other thesis students and to receive advice from your instructor as your ideas begin to come together so that you can be sure you are presenting them in a logical and coherent fashion.

7. Title Page Format

____________________________________________________________

(go down 14 lines [7 if double-spacing] from the top 1-inch margin to your title)

Title of Your Thesis

Your Name

(go down 20 lines [10 if double-spacing] to next section; 18 [9] if your title takes two lines)

Header Photo

Many thanks to Keiller Impson for the moon photo used as my header.

Disclaimer

This website is not affiliated with any of the organizations or institutions at which Dr. Impson is employed and/or with which she is affiliated. Links to any sites are not endorsements of the contents of those sites.